This is The Peak of My Career, Says England Opener Alex Hales

Hales, who is the leading run-getter in the Big Bash League 2020-21, with 462 runs in 12 innings at an average of 38.5, has not played for England since March 2019.

Hales's effort on Friday came a day after the England selector Ed Smith said that the opening batsman may not come back to the national side in near future.

"No, nothing at all - nothing from that end (English selectors). At the moment, I'm just enjoying my cricket and I'm going to keep trying to score as many runs as I can, enjoying myself, and see what happens," Hales was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.com.

"Obviously that's the peak of cricket, playing for your country. At the moment, I'm just going to focus on the process of scoring runs and enjoying my cricket, and if that's the end result then brilliant," he added.

"This is definitely the best I've played, I feel like it's in the peak of my career. I'm 32 now and I feel like I know my game really well, and I'm just going to keep looking to impress whenever I get a chance. Particularly in T20 cricket, the older you get the more you understand what your strengths are," Hales said.

England selector Smith had earlier said, "At the moment, I would expect things to stay as they are there. No doors are closed in terms of there's no final decision. It's not that it's going to be the same indefinitely. But at the moment, if I had to make a prediction, I would say we'd stay as we are."

England are due to play five T20 Internationals and three ODIs against India in India in March. IANS